The Evil We Must Face in Ourselves
by Hypnotoad76
Summary: Greendale's superheroed study group must face off against evil versions of themselves who are after godlike power. Sequel to A City In Need of Saving. Second part of an eventual trilogy.
1. Prologue

**This is a sequel to my previous superhero fanfic A City In Need of Saving, and was inspired by the Community episode "Remedial Chaos Theory." It takes place nine months after the events of A City In Need of Saving. Like A City In Need of Saving this will be rated a Hard T, as it will get fairly dark. **

**I don't own the amazing show Community or any of its wonderful characters. **

**This story is dedicated to MEGGEM, for giving me the idea to write a sequel to my first Greendale superhero story. **

_Greendale, 1964._

_Benedict Hopswagger ran down the street, nervously looking back as he heard sirens in the distance. Seeing the abandoned house he was looking for he ran to the porch and threw open the door, not even bothering with knocking. "Dr. Osbourne! Dr Osbourne, are you here?" _

_As he looked around he saw an eerie yellow glow coming from the basement. He opened the door and walked down the stairs just as the light disappeared, revealing a hunched over man standing in a circle of ash. Upon hearing the newcomer arrive the man stood up straight and turned around. Benedict swallowed as he looked at Dr. Nathanael Osbourne, a tall stocky man with civil war era length sideburns. _

"_Dr. Osbourne. It's done. The book is hidden." _

_Dr. Osbourne smiled a rare smile. "Good. Your bravery will ensure that all of our work will not be in vain. Where did you hide the notebook?" _

_Instead of answering Benedict pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to the doctor. After looking at it Dr. Osbourne tied the location instructions to a carrier pigeon. Speaking gently to the pigeon he opened the window as it flew away. "I told it to go to my wife Hannah, who will give the instructions to our unborn son Alex when he is old enough. Now, for the item." He beckoned Benedict over to the circle of ash, revealing a plain six sided dice in the center of the circle. _

"_There it is. What will make men into gods." _

"_I still don't understand why we have to go through all of this. We're altering the fabric of the universe, creating whole different worlds, all to obtain this power. Why does it have to be divided? Why can't we just draw it into us?" _

"_Because my young colleague, real power must be earned through hard work and sacrifice. It cannot simply be given over. This is why you never understood the value of true will and determination. The easy route cannot always be taken to achieve true greatness." _

_Dr. Osbourne picked up the dice and handed it to Benedict, glancing into the distance as the sound of sirens grew louder. "Take this and put it with the notebook. You'll have to leave soon, before the police get here. If it hadn't taken so long to form I would have had you hide both items at the same time" _

_Benedict looked at the dice, weighing it in the palm of his hand. "Why did you choose a dice to be the constructor? I thought you said we needed to create seven timelines to harness the power? Won't this create six?" _

"_We don't have time for explanations!" _

"_Sir, if anything happens to you I have to be able to tell your son how this works. Please, tell me why you made the constructor a dice." _

_Dr. Osbourne glared at Benedict before deeply sighing. "If the constructor is to be hidden until my son is old enough to use it I had to make sure it wouldn't accidently be used by someone else before it's time. That is why it was made so it can only properly be used under extremely specific circumstances. First, to activate it it has to be used for something that is not for its original use." _

"_I don't follow sir." _

_Dr. Osbourne pointed over to a game of yahtzee on the table. "I made the dice so whatever it is first used for it is imprinted as being used for that. This way if someone finds it and accidently uses it it will not accidently be activated, for it will be imprinted as being used for that purpose." _

"_Wait, so the dice was from that board game?" _

"_No, the dice was not from anything. It formed when I willed it into being. The game is so we can imprint it. Before you leave we must play a quick game of yahtzee with the dice. This way the dice is imprinted as being a ordinary board game dice, until it is found and used by my son. Second, the person handling it, or someone within their vicinity, must acknowledge that different universes or timelines are being created when they use it. And third, and this is the most important, seven outcomes must come out of six." _

_Benedict looked at Dr. Osbourne in confusion. "I don't understand. Isn't one dice made for six outcomes?" _

"_Exactly." _

"_Then I don't understand how you can get seven outcomes if it's made for six? Do you mean it is rolled seven different times?" _

"_You lack subtlety. What I mean is when the dice is used it should be intended for six outcomes to occur, but seven will actually form. This will seal the split timelines and properly divide up the power. " _

"_Sir, how is that possible? How can you get seven outcomes when a dice is only intended for six?" _

"_Trust me Benedict, there is a way. Now come on. We have to imprint the dice before you take it to_" _

_They looked up as the basement door burst open and policeman charged down the stairs. "Freeze! Put your hands in the air!" _

_Dr. Osbourne slowly put his hands in the air, gasping and wheezing as he looked at Benedict. "Don't do… anything stupid." _

_They both stood still as Sergeant Pelton made his way to the front of the group of cops. "Nathanael Osbourne and Benedict Hopswagger. You are under arrest for robbery, disturbing the peace, kidnapping, and the murder of six year old Becky Gunderson. You have the right to-_

_Suddenly Dr. Osbourne gasped and reached into his pocket. One of the cops yelled out. "He's going for a weapon!" Before he could say anything the police opened fire, shooting Dr. Osbourne until he crumpled to the ground. _

"_Stop! He just needed his asthma inhaler!" Benedict charged forward and the police opened fire on him. As he fell to the ground the dice slipped out of his hand, unnoticed by anyone. _

_As the incident was dealt with and items were collected the dice was found. Thinking it was just a game piece it was put in the yahtzee game and put in evidence. It remained in an evidence locker for twenty years until it was removed as part of a closed case evidence clean up. The game was taken by an officer who gave it to his children to play with. When the children grew up the game, along with the dice, was donated to goodwill. It sat on a shelf for many years until one day when two young college students found it. _

"_Abed look, Yahtzee. This would go great with our fancy adult housewarming party…." _


	2. Chapter 1

The past several months had been good all around, Jeff thought. With Pusher and his drug ring gone things had improved immensely. The drug sunshine had been eradicated from Greendale, everyone able to had been reversed from their zombielike state, and people were no longer mindless savages killing each other for a fix. While there would always be crime, it had dramatically gone down in quantity. And because of their actions at stopping Rich's gang the mayor has sanctioned vigilante crime fighters in Greendale to be legal. For the first time they could protect the city without worrying about being arrested by the police.

There were several other more personal reasons Jeff had to be happy. He and Annie were back together and closer than he ever thought possible. Britta had decided to stay and fight crime in Greendale again. And everyone's favorite awesome superhero was out of his coma and currently patrolling the streets with Jeff.

"Are things really different now?"

Jeff lowered his binoculars and looked over at Troy. "Who, or what, are you talking about?"

"You and An-Bright Eyes. Now that you're-"he dramatically looked around the other rooftops before mouthing the word 'married'. "are things different between you two?"

Jeff shrugged as he continues surveying the city. "Not really. We were already living together and doing everything a married couple already does. This just, I don't know, makes it official or something."

"And you knew she really wanted to put on a fancy dress and plan the perfect wedding."

"Yea, that too." Jeff smiled as he remembered Annie and his wedding. Only she could have gone over flower arrangements in her head while swinging from rooftops and catching criminals. He kept telling her they could just go to town hall and get married there, but she had insisted on a traditional ceremony. Though when he saw her walk down the aisle in her dress he was glad they had gone her route.

Troy sat down on the roof, dangling his legs over the edge. "I'm glad I was able to see that. So much happened that I didn't see. You're in a coma for a couple of months and everything cool happens."

Jeff sat down next to Troy on the roof. "I don't know how cool it all was. It sounds great in hindsight, but when it actually happened it was scary."

"Yea, but people still talk about that night. Calling it 'Pusher takedown night'. Say what you want, I wish I had been there kicking butt."

"Ok, it would have been great if Captain Awesome had been there too. Maybe then I wouldn't have gotten my ass kicked so hard. I don't know what Rich was taking, but he could punch harder then Tyson. And he could move faster than a bullet. I'm not even ashamed to say it; if it wasn't for Bright Eyes I wouldn't be alive today."

They both jerked as Troy's police radio went off. "_All units. We have a disturbance at Electronic World. The store is being demolished by an unknown number of individuals. Suspects are described as extremely dangerous." _

Jeff grinned as he looked at Troy. "You wanted action. That sounds about right."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The store was surrounded by cops when Jeff and Troy arrived. "Captain Awesome and ATL. Who's in charge here?" Troy said

"That would be me." Troy and Jeff looked over as the disgruntled officer walked over to them. "Lieutenant Marshall Kane, GDPD. And we have the situation under control. We don't need any vigilantes messing things up."

Suddenly they heard a loud crash as several televisions were thrown through the storefront window. Jeff glanced at the wreckage and then back at Lieutenant Kane. "Doesn't look like it from here. We'll just have a quick look for ourselves."

"HEY!" They both stopped as Lieutenant Kane leaned in close to them. "I know you think you and all your friends are above the law and can do whatever you want after the Mayor passed that vigilantes protection act. But real honest citizens like myself are fighting to get it repealed. And as soon as it is I'm going to take you and all of your costumed friends down. "

"But if you did that who would stop all the crimes?" With that they walked into the store, leaving a fuming Kane behind.

Unease crept up both of their spines as they walked down the darkened aisles. Troy nervously looked around the displays. "Doesn't it feel like we're being watched?"

"Maybe that's because you are."

They both turned around as a tall man stepped out in front of them. Both Jeff and Troy stood there in shock at what they were seeing.

The man was Abed.

"Abed? What are you doing? And when did you grow a beard?"

He laughed while stroking his goatee. "They're so many clichéd things I could say right now. But I'm really past all of my former pop culture references. I'm more blunt and to the point now. I was hoping this show would get your Abed to come. Another time. But at least one person we were looking for came. Evil Troy!"

"Is he here?" They looked around as incredibly another Troy came out of the shadows. He was dressed in civilian clothes (jeans and a turtleneck sweater) and his voice sounded squeaky and machinelike artificial, but it was him. He smiled at Jeff and Troy. "Good. I can't wait to ascend to the next power level. " Before they could react he ran forward in the blink of an eye and kicked Jeff, sending him flying down the aisle. Troy pulled out a pair of nunchuckes and attacked his other self, who easily blocked his blows. He grabbed Troy by the throat and lifted him up one handed. "How do you want to die? Cause I can snap your neck and make it quick? Or." He held up his other hand as ribbons of fire ignited from his finger tips. "I can make your death slow."

"Forget the fanfare Evil Troy, just kill it!" 

Just then Evil Troy cried out as he felt a knife slice into his back. He released Troy and pulled the knife out as Jeff ran towards him. Before he could reach the evil doppelganger Jeff was blasted off his feet and thrown to the ground. As he looked up he saw goateed Abed raise a hand and he was dragged across the floor without anyone touching him.

When the hell was he able to do that, he thought. As Jeff clawed at the ground goateed Abed yelled out as an iPod was thrown at his head. Before he could react Troy hurled a laptop at him, knocking him to the ground.

"Jeff, you ok?"

"Never better."

As Jeff got up he saw goateed Abed go over to Evil Troy. Evil Troy winced in pain as his friend held him up. "EA, I'm hurting."

"It's ok, I've got you." He briefly looked back to Jeff and Troy. "This is just a brief intermission. The real show is just beginning." He raised his arm as a huge ice ball shot from his fingers, blasting a large hole in the roof. Holding onto Evil Troy he jumped through the hole and onto the roof of the store.

Jeff and Troy stood there in amazement as they heard screams and gun shots outside. Troy shook his head as he looked at Jeff. "What the hell was that? They were like me and Abed if we were evil. And badass. And how did they do that."

"I have no idea what's going on. But the way the other you moved and picked you up like it was nothing, I've seen it before. When I fought Rich he had the same strength and speed that they had. But he didn't have telekinesis, and couldn't shoot fire or ice from his hands.

"Well we have to call Abed. We have to tell him that-."

Jeff grabbed Troy's hand to stop him from using his phone. "Don't. That might not be a good idea."

Troy angrily jerked his arm out of Jeff's grasp. "That wasn't him. I know Abed, and the Abed I know would NEVER do that. Don't even think that the person we just saw was our Abed. In case you forgot, we just saw another me. So that means there are two Abeds running around. Our Abed and a evil bearded one."

Jeff wanted to be as sure as Troy was, but he had seen too much to not want to be cautious. "Look, we don't know exactly what we saw. It could be another Abed. But it could also be the real one brainwashed or something. Let's find him and see exactly what is going on, ok?"

Troy looked at Jeff angrily before sighing in frustration. "Fine, your call. Let's go."


	3. Chapter 2

Abed's hand hit the alarm clock, silencing the deafening buzz. He rolled over to see if Shirley was awake when he saw that her side of the bed was empty. As he sat up in confusion he suddenly remembered what day today was, and knew exactly where she would be.

After checking to see that their son was all right he called Britta, hoping she wouldn't be hung over or exhausted from last night's patrol. "Britta, it's Abed…Yes I know what time it is. I need you to come over and watch Aaron…Yes, it's today. I'm going to the cemetery now…He's asleep so it would be easier if you came over here so I don't have to wake him…Thank you. See you in a little while. "

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Abed locked the car and went into the cemetery, making his way through the rows of headstones. As he walked he glanced at the graves of people he knew. He briefly stopped at Neil's grave, running his fingers over the headstone. He saw that someone had left a D&D dice on the stone. Probably Vicky, he guessed. If there was time he wanted to visit Pierce's grave. But he had to be there for Shirley first.

He finally saw her by four white grave markers, each with today's date as the day the departed had died. She had already put a bouquet of flowers on Elijah, Jordon, and Ben's graves and was kneeling at Andre's grave, putting a bouquet on the gravestone.

She didn't turn as he approached her and gently put his hand on her shoulder. She just reached up and gently placed her hand over his. "You didn't have to come." she said, although he knew she was grateful that he was there.

"I know how hard today is for you. I wanted to be here for you."

She squeezed his hand as tears ran down her cheeks. "It should have been me. That car bomb was meant for me. If I hadn't insisted-." Her voice caught in a sob as she remembered that terrible day.

Abed took hold of her hands and pulled Shirley to her feet, cupping her face as he looked into her eyes. "Shirley, what happened was a horrible tragedy and I wish Andre and your boys were still here today. But I'm greatful that you weren't also taken in that explosion. "

Shirley hugged Abed tightly, resting her head on his chest. "I miss them." Abed held onto his wife, gently rubbing her back as she cried.

They stayed at the grave site, holding hands as Shirley quietly hummed a song from her church. Suddenly the somber atmosphere was broken by Abed's phone loudly ringing. He pulled it out and quickly answered it. "Troy this isn't the best time…wait, slow down…really…ok." He hung up and turned to Shirley. "Troy said he needs to see us right away."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Jeff wiped the sweat from his brow as he fell back onto the bed. As he caught his breath Annie crawled on top of him, straddling his waist as she kissed his neck and chest.

"You're going to have to give me a few minutes before round two."

"I bet I can get you to rise to the occasion." She said as she licked his skin.

Jeff smiled as he ran his fingers through her hair. She was unusually frisky today. It wasn't everyday they had sex in the afternoon. And most times she liked to cuddle for a bit before going at it again. Today she almost impatiently wanted him ready again. He liked this change in her. It was almost like she-

His blood ran cold as a terrible thought suddenly occurred to him. He grabbed her arms and inspected her closely, particularly making sure her two battle scars (the one above her right breast from El Tigre and the one over her ribs from when Rich shot her) were there. Seeing that they were still there he looked deep into her eyes, searching for any clue that they didn't belong to his wife. She smiled at first, but then felt uneasy as he kept staring at her. "Jeff, what's wrong?" When he didn't respond she pulled out from his grasp. "Jeff!"

Jeff shook his head, feeling foolish that he thought she wasn't her. "I'm sorry."

The mood officially gone, Annie climbed off of Jeff and laid down next to him. "What was that about? You were looking at me like you expected me to turn into a monster."

He stared at the ceiling for a moment before turning onto his side. "I didn't want to say anything until I knew more. But last night when me and Troy were patrolling something happened. There was a disturbance at Electronic world. And when we got there the person inside was Abed."

"What?"

"But it wasn't him. I mean, he looked exactly like him. But he had a goatee and he had strange powers. He was really strong and he could shoot ice from his hands. And he had telekinesis. He threw me around without laying a finger on me.

"So you're saying there's someone with superpowers who looks like Abed?"

"Either that or he has a superpowered evil twin, which after what happened with Chang isn't completely impossible. But then someone attacked us who looked just like Troy."

"I thought you said Troy was with you?"

"He was. This was someone who looked exactly like him. And he also had powers. He had the same strength and speed Rich had. And he could form fire with his hands."

Annie looked at Jeff in confusion and amazement. "So basically there are two Abeds and two Troys running around." Her eyes suddenly widened in understanding. "That's why you freaked out before. You thought I wasn't me?"

"I just, you seemed unusually horny and I thought maybe…."

She folded her arms as she felt herself grow angry. "You thought because I was eager to have sex with my husband I couldn't possibly be your wife. No, that would be silly."

"No, that's not…." Jeff groaned in frustration. "I'm sorry; I wasn't trying to accuse you of anything. I just freaked out over what happened last night."

Annie uncrossed her arms as they sat in silence. After a few moments she said "What's the dirtiest thing we're ever done?"

"What?"

"I'm asking you to tell me what's the dirtiest thing we're ever done?"

Jeff thought for a moment before he grinned as the answer became crystal clear. "The dirtiest thing we ever did was when we spent an hour searching that dumpster behind the Chinese Restaurant for that bracelet I gave you after it fell off your wrist when we went out for dinner."

Annie smirked at the memory of that night. "It took a week to wash all that duck sauce out of my hair. Ok, now ask me something that only I would know."

"What happened the first time I saw Terminator 2?"

"You cried at the end when The Terminator sacrificed himself."

"And."

Annie rolled her eyes. "And again, I'm sworn never to reveal that to anyone and I'm the only one who will ever know that about Jeff Winger."

"That's my girl." He absentmindedly played with her hair as he looked at her. "I'm sorry about before."

"It's more understandable now that I know what happened last night. But now we have a way of knowing if we're really us."

Suddenly their bedroom door burst open, followed a moment later by Britta charging in. "Guys-"

"WHAT THE HELL!" Jeff yelled as they both scrambled to pull the sheet over them. "Haven't you heard of knocking Britta?"

"You weren't answering your phone."

"Don't you think there's a reason for that? Get out!"

"I will. But Troy just called. He said it's really important that we all see each other right away. We're meeting at Troy's."

"Britta, just get out so we can get dressed-what happened to your hand?" Annie said.

Britta shifted uneasily as she glanced at the bandage on her hand. "I just…I hurt it patrolling last night. I'll be in the living room. Just get ready."

Jeff looked over at Annie as Britta left their bedroom. "You thought she was lying too, right?"

"About her hand? Yes."

"Ok, glad I wasn't the only one."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

When they finally got to Troy's Jeff was sure that had to be one of the most uncomfortable drives of his life, and that included the ride home from school after his mom picked him up from the principal's office after he had been caught cheating. Britta refused to tell them why they were going to Troy's and she kept growing defensive every time they tried to bring up her hand injury.

"Come on, they're all inside." Britta said as she opened the door, gesturing for them to go into the darkened apartment.

As soon as Jeff and Annie were inside the lights came on, revealing Abed, Troy and Shirley pointing weapons at them. Before they could react Britta pulled out two hand guns and pointed one at each of their backs.

"What the hell is going-?"

"Shut up ."

Troy came forward and walked over to Jeff. "What was the last thing I said before I slipped into a coma?"

"Are you out of your-"

"WHAT WAS IT?"

"You said 'If I die tell Abed your now Aaron's godfather'."

Troy turned to Annie. "What did I say to Annie when we danced together on her wedding day?"

Annie swallowed as she looked at Troy determinedly "'If I request 'Time of Your Life' can you and Jeff do the Dirty Dancing Lift?'"

As Troy nodded his head they all put down their weapons. "I'm sorry, but we had to make sure you were you."

Jeff glared angrily at Troy. "Did you threaten everyone else's life in the process?"

"No one got any special treatment. Until we were sure of everyone's true identity we treated each other like a threat." Britta said.

"It's like The Thing. Until you're sure of who exactly someone is, you can't trust what you see." Abed said.

As they all tensely walked into the living room Jeff and Annie noticed that everyone's hand was bandaged. "What's going on with everyone's hands?"

"A unfortunate but necessary precaution." Abed said. He went into the kitchen and pulled a barbecue fork off the stove, the two point's bright red. "If you will both hold out one of your hands."

Jeff stuffed his hands in his jacket, catching on to what Abed wanted to do. "Are you insane? I'm not mutilating myself."

"Jeff, in every movie where there is a double there's always a moment when both are together and they both try to convince someone who's the real one. We need a easy way to immediately know who's the real us."

"And your plan is to burn ourselves? What about asking questions like before?"

"The other us can figure out that stuff about us."

"How do you even know-"

"Jeff, enough." Annie went over to Abed and held out her hand. "If there are multiple us's running around we need a way to decipher right now who is who."

Abed handed Annie a small thick piece of wood. "Bite down on this." She put it in her mouth as Abed held her wrist with one hand while holding the fork over the back of her left hand. She nodded and tightly closed her eyes. Taking a deep breath Abed pressed the red hot medal into her skin, holding onto her tightly as she involuntarily winced. He set the fork down and handed her a bowl of cool water. "Keep your hand in the bowl for fifteen minutes. "

Abed turned to Jeff. "I know this seems harsh, but it's the best way to-"

"Shut up." Jeff walked over and thrust his hand out, taking the piece of wood from Annie. "Let's just get this over with." He said as he put the wood in his mouth.

Abed took Jeff's hand and repeated the process. When he was done he gave a bowl of water to Jeff. "I have bandages once you hands have cooled."

"Do you have any Essence of Dittany?" Annie said.

"We can't use it. It diminishes the appearance of scars for minor wounds. And we want these scars to be prominent."

The three of them joined Troy, Britta and Shirley in the living room. "Where's Aaron?" Annie asked.

"Chang is watching him over at our place."Abed said as he sat next to Shirley. "Troy called me this morning and said that he and Jeff fought doubles of me and him last night."

Jeff angrily looked over at Troy. "I thought we agreed that-"

"No, you agreed. I knew that person we saw wasn't Abed."

"Jeff did have a point." Abed said. "Until we knew who exactly was the real us we had to be cautious about what we said to each other. But it looks like there are doubles of all of us running around."

"How do you know there are doubles of all of us?" Annie said.

"Take a look at this." Troy said as he turned on the TV and went to a news report he had DVRed earlier. They watched as a reporter yelled that something was overturning cars and throwing them like softballs. Whoever was doing it was moving so fast all they saw was a black blur. Finally Troy paused as the person stopped for an instant. He zoomed in and they saw that the person was Annie in a flowing black dress.

Annie stared at the screen in shock. "This can't be real."

"It is. So far we've now confirmed that there are evil impersonators of myself, Troy and Annie running around. At this point we have to assume there are evil versions of all of us." Abed said.

Shirley looked at everyone gravely "We need to figure out who they are and how to stop them. Because if this keeps up everyone is going to think we've committing all of these crimes."

XXXXXXXXX

After several hours of discussion everyone left Troy's, no further off at figuring out what to do. As Abed and Shirley drove home Shirley complained that she had a headache. Remembering that they were out of aspirin Abed dropped her off at home and went out to get some.

As he exited the pharmacy he thought he heard someone whispering his name in the ally. Pulling out a collapsible baton he slowly made his way into the ally. He looked around but didn't see anyone. Suddenly he heard a noise behind him. He turned around and found himself face to face with another Abed.

The other Abed sighed deeply as he looked at him. "We need to talk."


	4. Chapter 3

Jeff opened his eyes and looked at the clock by the bed. 7:37 Am. Most mornings this would be considered getting up late for both of them. Monday through Saturday they were up before six doing their workout routines. He ran for several miles while Annie went to her yoga class. This was followed by the two of them intensely sparing together and then (Jeff's favorite part), both of them hitting the shower. But Sundays they both liked to sleep in, usually not getting up until nine or even ten in the morning. Which was why he was really annoyed he was up right now.

He considered trying to fall back to sleep. But he smelled coffee brewing in the kitchen. Might as well get a fresh cup, he thought. He looked over and saw that Annie was still sound asleep. He quietly got out of bed, throwing on a t-shirt as he walked into the kitchen.

"Morning."

Britta glanced up at Jeff, smirking at his attire. "Nice PJ pants."

Jeff glanced down at his pants, which were bright green with elephants flying biplanes. "Annie got them for me. They were on sale and I needed a new pair." He jumped a little as he felt Captain Whiskers wrap himself around his legs. "Why does your cat always do that first thing in the morning?"

"He just likes you. I don't know why, you do the least for him and he gives you more attention than either me or Annie."

Jeff rolled his eyes as he poured himself a cup of coffee. When Britta had decided to move back to Greendale her apartment was already rented to someone else and she had nowhere to go. So Annie and (a reluctant) Jeff offered her the guest bedroom until she found her own place. It's only for a little while, Annie had said. That little while was now going on six months.

"So, have you had any luck finding an apartment?"

"I've….been looking."

"Not that we don't like having you around. But, we are married, so…"

"Oh, like that's stopped you from your sex-platades. I've gone through three sets of ear plugs since I've moved in."

"First of all, if you have a problem with what we do in our bedroom, you can always move out. And second, platades?"

"Yea, sex-platades. When people have loud sex."

"I think you mean sex-capades."

"No, It's platades, cause it's play, but for grownups."

Jeff stared at her for a few moments. "It's too early to think of a good comeback to what you just said, but trust me; it's on its way." He looked at her as she rubbed the bandage on her hand. "I'd say don't do that or else it will scar. But that would kind of defeat the purpose."

She winced as she pulled the bandage off, revealing an angry red burn with two raised marks. "This might have been a little excessive. "

"Oh now you think it's excessive. But yesterday you were all 'everyone burn themselves or else we'll kill you'."

"You weren't there when Abed explained it. He listed a bunch of movies where someone has a gun to a person and their evil double and both of them try to convince the other person they're the real them. This way if that happens they just hold up their hand and we immediately know."

"And the fact that the evil double could just burn themselves never occurred to any you?"

Just then both Jeff and Britta heard their cell phones vibrate, with a third buzz indicating Annie's was also buzzing. They looked at their phones, which both had the same text from Troy. _Greendale high school. Evil me wrecking place. Come Now! _

Jeff walked into their bedroom and gently shook Annie's shoulder. "Annie, come on, wake up."

She groaned softly as her eyes opened. "What time is it?"

"Quarter to 8. Troy just texted us. His evil double is at the high school causing havoc. We need to try and stop him and find out who this guy really is."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Half an hour later the three of them arrived at the high school in their superhero costumes. Cops had surrounded the building, with officers on bullhorns trying to negotiate with those inside. They went over to Troy, who was standing in front of the entrance also in costume.

"How many are in there?" Jeff said to Troy.

"I don't know. There's at least-." He leaned in and mouthed 'me' "but I don't know if there are anymore of-." He mouthed 'our doubles'.

Annie looked at the building. "What's exactly happening? You just said there was chaos."

"There were a bunch of kids playing basketball when he made his way in and took them hostage. So far he hadn't made any demands except that he wants Captain Awesome to come."

"Oh great, more supers." They looked over as Lieutenant Kane made his way over to them. 'What does it say about a town when vigilantes get to stop a crisis before the police?"

"Lieutenant, the person in there asked for me."

"Yea, he asked for you. Not your friends. And this sounds like negotiating. Maybe you supers do things differently, but the police do not negotiate with terrorists. "

"Well, we're going in to save those kids." Britta said.

Lieutenant Kane glared at them with disgust. "Fine, but remember that children's lives are at stake in there. And if just one person's life is lost it's on all your asses. And I will personally make sure you and all the other vigilantes pay for trying to play the hero."

With that the four of them walked into the high school, Troy leading the way. "I tried calling Meta and Saint Justice, but I couldn't get an answer."

"Why would you call them to come? They're retired." Annie whispered.

"They still should know. And they might have come anyway."

"Guys." Jeff said as they entered the gym. Five scared boys were propped up against the wall, bound and gagged. Annie started to run towards them, but Jeff grabbed her arm and stopped her. "Wait, something isn't right. They're just lying there, waiting for us to rescue them. This is a trap."

Britta took out her grappling gun and fired it at the first boy, expertly grabbing onto his ropes. She started pulling him towards them when a fire ball shot out from the distance, hitting the grappling cable and burning through it. They looked up as Evil Troy jumped down from the announcer's booth near the ceiling and landed on the gym floor. "Smart, but no match for me."

Britta and Annie couldn't help giggling as they heard him speak. Even Jeff and Troy laughed this time. "What's up with your voice? You sound like a robotic chipmunk." Troy said.

Evil Troy glared at them as he lowered the neck of his turtleneck sweater, revealing an artificial voice box attached to his throat. "Little mishap with a troll. Doesn't mean I'm not more awesome then any of you." With that he threw two huge fireballs at them, causing the four to dive to the ground. He turned and blasted the nearest boy with fire, laughing as the child screamed in agony.

"NO!" Troy screamed as he ran at his doppelganger and jumped on him, inadvertently hitting him where Jeff had stabbed him in the back two nights ago. He cried out as he grabbed Troy and flipped him over his body, throwing him hard onto the gym floor. As he raised his leg to crush Troy's ribcage Britta pulled out her guns and started firing. She managed to hit Evil Troy once in the side, but he dodged the rest of the bullets with impossible speed. He began to form ice spears and threw them at Britta, who dove out of the way like it was a perverted game of dodge ball.

Seeing their opening Jeff and Annie ran to the kids. Jeff started untying them as Annie went to the one who had been burned. She knelt beside him, trying to control the terror she felt as he cried out in agony. "It's ok. We're here to help. Just hold on. ATL, we need to get him out of here!"

"One second." Jeff yelled. He had untied the first three boys and told them to run. He was working on the ropes of the last kid when suddenly a large ice spear was thrown through the child's chest. The kid didn't even have time to gasp as he instantly died. Jeff gasped in horror as Evil Troy threw a ice spear at him, only having time to duck due to instinctively listening to Annie when she told him to duck.

As he prepared another ice spear Troy got up and punched Evil Troy repeatedly in his back and side wound. As he yelled out in pain he grabbed Troy by his left hand and violently bent his fingers back, breaking his middle and pointer finger.

"Troy!" He looked up as Britta threw a knife at him. He jumped up and wrapped his legs around Evil Troy's neck, pulling him to the ground as he caught the knife and stabbed Evil Troy in the chest.

Evil Troy cried out as Troy raised the knife to finish the job. But before he could do it a gunshot was heard. They all flinched and looked at themselves, but no one was shot. They looked at Evil Troy and saw a perfectly round bullet hole in his forehead. Footsteps were heard as Abed walked over to them.

Troy got up and made his way over to him. "Abed, where did you-." He stopped when he looked at his hand, not seeing a burn mark on it. He raised his knife as the others surrounded him with weapons raised.

"Wait!" The Abed before them said as he raised his hands. "I'm not your Abed. But I'm not the evil one either. "

"How do we know that?" Britta yelled.

"Because if I were him I would have just killed you. And I wouldn't have killed Evil Troy. There's a lot that has to be explained to you. Please, just let me explain and then we'll go from there.


	5. Chapter 4

Jeff impatiently drummed his fingers on his arm chair as he waited impatiently. The four of them were in Jeff and Annie's apartment waiting for other Abed to show up. They waited in silence as they mentally replayed what had happened after other Abed showed up. He told them to go out the front while he left through the sewer entrance in the basement. He had insisted on taking Evil Troy's body so Troy wouldn't be implemented in the crime. Though it didn't sit well with them they agreed it was what had to happen. They left and told the police the man responsible had fled the scene. Lieutenant Kane was furious at them, and understandably so. One kid was dead; another in critical condition, and as far as he knew the child killer had gotten away. He wanted them arrested for negligence right there and then. He only didn't do it because of the sanction from the mayor. But he vowed that they would not go unpunished for what happened today.

Britta looked over at Troy, who was looking at his taped up fingers. "How are you?"

"Fingers hurt, but they'll heal eventually."

"I meant-."

"I know what you meant Britta. Seeing me kill people, even if it was just someone who looked like me…"

They all tensed up as they heard a knock at the door. Jeff got up and answered the door, seeing Abed standing there. He held up his hand, revealing no burn, and said "Orange eggplant and blue squid." Correctly repeating the code phrase he said he'd say to indicate it was him Jeff stepped aside and let him in. Jeff looked as Shirley followed.

"Are you another Shirley also?"

She shook her head and held up her hand, revealing a raised burn. "No, I'm me. He came to us last night and explained everything that's going on."

Jeff looked at the other Abed. As he looked at him closely he noticed that he looked different then the Abed they knew. His face looked like it was lined due to hard living, and there were flecks of grey in his hair "So, what do we call you? Other Abed?"

"Call me Abed Five, since I'm from the fifth roll."

"Fifth roll?"

"The timeline from the fifth dice roll. I'll explain everything."

As he heard what Abed Five said Jeff seemed to remember an old memory about timelines and dice rolls. Before he could process it another knock was at the door. He opened it and saw another Annie standing there.

Annie stood up when she saw the doppelganger at the door. "That's her! That's the evil version of me!"

"I'm not evil!" the other Annie cried out.

Abed Five stepped forward and put a arm around her. "Everyone, this is Annie Five. She's the Annie from my timeline."

She nervously waved at everyone. "Hi. I know this is going to be confusing, but we'll explain everything."

"I think you better." Britta exclaimed

"Wait, where's Abed? OUR Abed." Troy said.

"He's in hiding. Don't worry, he's safe." Abed Five said.

Troy started standing up but sat back down when Shirley waved a hand at him. "Troy, just wait. You'll understand once everything is explained to you."

"Can someone please explain what the hell is going on?" Annie yelled.

Abed Five took a deep breath. "OK, first, do you have a marker and a wipe board or large paper?"

Jeff got up and got Abed Five a large pad of paper they used for Pictionary and a marker before sitting back down.

"OK." Abed Five said. "Let me explain what is going on. I'll start at the beginning. Over fifty years ago there were two men involved in the occult. They came across a way to give themselves godlike powers, which would allow them to rule over mankind. However, they could not simply draw this power into themselves. It had to be separated and separately absorbed into them through sacrifice and bloodletting."

"What does this have to do with other us's running around?" Troy said.

"I'm getting to that. To properly obtain this power they had to essentially put it in themselves and then take it from themselves. Basically they had to create other versions of themselves. The power would be divided among the other versions. And if they killed their other versions, they could absorb the power."

"So you mean they made clones of us?" Britta said.

"No, no one is a clone. See, they couldn't just make multiple versions of someone in one universe. That would create chaos and instability. They had to create whole different universes, with one of each person living in it." Seeing that they were confused he went over to the pad paper. "Do you remember several years ago when me and Troy invited everyone to our apartment for a housewarming party? When it was time to get the pizza Jeff took a dice and threw it in the air, with whatever number it landed on having that person having to get the pizza. And I said that by doing this he was creating multiple timelines."

"Yea." Jeff slowly said, starting to figure out what Abed Five was talking about.

"Well, that's what happened." Abed Five drew a line halfway through the middle of the paper, and then had seven lines branch out from there. "That dice was created to specifically create multiple universes. Before you threw that dice there was just one universe. But once it was thrown it caused a branch effect to occur with multiple realities occurring. You threw that dice seven times, with seven different outcomes occurring. This act created seven different universes and timelines, with a version of ourselves in each of them."

Jeff shook his head. "Wait, I only threw the dice once. I didn't throw it seven times?"

"Essentially you did, you just don't know it. At that point in time where you threw the dice there was a split in reality, where you threw that dice seven times and each time you threw it a different outcome occurred. You just never realized it. None of you did."

"Then why do you know this?" Britta said.

"When I discovered there were other versions of us I did research and found notes that detailed this occurring. To have this occur the conduit had to be formed as a object that could cause multiple outcomes to be created. The object that they chose to form it as was a dice. That dice somehow ended up in a game of yahtzee and when Jeff threw that particular dice it created the seven different universes."

Jeff sat there in shock. "So this is my fault."

"Only slightly. The true ones at fault are the two who created the dice in the first place. They were the ones who originally intended to create multiple universes. We just did what they intended accidently. It was also more my fault then yours. As I've found out it would have only occurred if someone deliberately mentioned that different universes or timelines could happen. If I hadn't said that there only would have been one outcome. More importantly was the fact that in the final outcome Abed caught the dice, stopping a number from being revealed. The dice was designed so seven different universes could only be created if someone intended for six outcomes to occur, but seven actually happened. If the dice had landed that last time it would have still created six outcomes as intended and the other universes would have fallen back into each other and only the one that came before the dice was ever thrown would have been. But since Abed caught it a seventh outcome was created, and sealed the split. At the time it was thought that if the dice was caught our fates would belong to us instead of chance. But as you can see that is what caused all of this to happen. This is more my fault then Jeff's."

Abed Five looked at Jeff. "Jeff, do you remember which number you rolled?"

"Yea, I rolled a…" Jeff suddenly drew a blank as he tried to remember. "That's weird, I don't remember."

"It's not surprising. The dice was designed so the person who rolled the number wouldn't remember which specific number came up after a few minutes passed, along with no one having a clear memory of the immediate events afterwards unless they were of true significant importance. I think it was designed that way so it would be harder for people to grasp what was happening. The only reason I remember that I came from the fifth universe was because it landed on five and I had to get the pizza. It seems the only person from each universe who really remembers which number came up was whoever that particular roll affected. Since that roll's outcome was who got the pizza that night, whoever got it in that universe had a clear memory of which number came up."

They all sat there, trying to grasp what they were hearing. "So, this means we're not real?" Annie softly said.

"You can't think of it in terms of being real or not." Abed Five said. "You Annie are as real as Annie Five and Evil Annie is. Just as I'm as real as your Abed and Evil Abed. Every version of ourselves are real. They just are different depending on how they live their lives according to how their universe is. Some of the timelines are similar to one another. Others are not."

"Like the one with evil versions of ourselves." Britta said.

"Exactly. After this timeline that one is the most radically different one."

"Our time line is radically different?" Jeff said.

Annie Five looked at him like he was a simpleton. "No, it's perfectly common for people to dress up as superheroes and fight crime."

Abed Five sat down next to Annie Five and placed his hand over hers before addressing the group. "To you this is all perfectly normal. But actually things are the most unique in this timeline. Your entire universe has conformed to the rules and guidelines of a comic book. Not just the choices you and everyone here have made, but the world itself." He looked over at Troy and Britta. "When you two took your sailing class during your first year at Greendale, where was the class held?"

"In the Greendale parking lot."

"And Troy, that time you fought Leonard's boys and saved Annie from drowning, where was she thrown into?"

"She was thrown into the harbor."

"So why would you take a boating class in a parking lot if Greendale was on the water?"

Troy's eyes widened in shock. "What!"

"Before the different universes were established Greendale was miles from water. But once it happened suddenly Greendale in this universe was near the water. That's because it conformed to a more comic book world, where criminals can smuggle goods in by boat. And now to you it's like Greendale was always a coast located town. And that's not all. Jeff, how long has it been since you and everyone graduated from Greendale?"

"Um, I don't know. Eight years."

"Right, it's been eight years since you graduated Greendale. You look good Jeff. Exactly like you looked since our third year at Greendale."

He shrugged nonchalantly "Well you know, I take care of myself."

"It's more than that. You don't have any extra wrinkles or any indication of aging. None of you do actually. You all look exactly like you did almost ten years ago."

The four of them looked at each other in shock, noticing for the first time that they did look exactly like that did since they were in Greendale. Annie shakily got up and went over to her other self to see if there was any difference in their appearances. While it was very subtle, seeing them side by side showed that one Annie looked like she was in her early twenties while the other looked like she was in her late twenties.

"It's true." Shirley gravely said. "At first I didn't believe it and just thought I was aging really well. But once it was pointed out to me I realized that it's true. It seems that none of us has aged since we were in Greendale."

"So…we're immortal." Troy said.

"No, you're not immortal." Abed Five said. "You're just ageless. It's more like a flowing timeline, like on The Simpsons. Events in the world go on as always. But to everyone in this particular universe they are paused age wise at the moment in time this universe was created. But you can still be killed.

"Wait, what about Aaron?" Annie said as she went back to her seat. "He's aged and gotten older."

"That's because he's a child, and most likely has not reached whatever age this universe dictates he will be. When he does reach it he will stop aging. And like you he won't realize it until it is pointed out to him."

Jeff looked over at Abed Five, and suddenly noticed that Annie Five was rubbing her fingers over the top of Abed Five's hand in an oddly familiar manner. As he looked closer he realized that they were wearing matching silver bands on each hand. "Wait a minute, are you two…?"

The group looked at them in shock, noticing what Jeff had noticed. Annie Five glanced at Abed Five before addressing the group. "Yes, Abed and I are married. We fell in love sometime after we graduated Greendale and got married a couple of years ago."

"We weren't keeping it a secret. We just figured there were more important matters to discuss first. But it seems there have been different pairings among us according to different universes." Abed Five said. He looked over at Troy and Britta. "In one of the universes you two have become a couple, while in another Troy and Abed are in a romantic relationship. And in one of the others Jeff and Britta fell in love and are essentially non married husband and wife." He looked over at Jeff and Annie. "It seems you two seem to be the most consistent couple. Counting this universe there are four universes where you two started a romantic relationship at one point, and in three of them you two ended up realizing you were meant to be with each other. In fact, the only universe where no one is involved with anyone are the ones from the evil universe." He sighed sadly. "Unfortunately, since our evil versions are hell bent on getting power, many other versions of us are now dead."

Troy sat there in shock, trying to form a coherent thought. "This is…my brain is never going to be unwrinkled."

Shirley looked at Troy with sympathy. "It takes a while to get used to it." She softly said.

Britta shook her head, unable to deal with the implications of all of this at the moment. "We'll deal with all this insanity later; let's get back to us having superpowers. How are these evil versions of us able to have superpowers?"

"They've gotten superpowers through themselves. That was the entire purpose of the multiple universes being created. The power was divided into each person, and resided in everyone." Abed Five said.

"Then why can't we do the things they can do?" Troy said.

"It's not activated when it's separated in each person. The only way it can be obtained is if you kill yourself. If you kill another version of yourself they turn to energy and you absorb a level of power."

"Is that just us, because we were there when the universes were created?" Annie said.

"It's not limited to us. Everyone in the world can potentially do this, if they realize what's going on and figure out how to cross over to each universe to kill their other selves."

"You said the power is in each of us. So what happens when you kill one of your other selves?" Jeff said.

Annie Five sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair. "You absorb a level of power. Each power ability coincides with the amount of yourselves that you kill. When you kill one of yourselves you obtain super strength."

"Basically Superman level strength." Abed Five said. "The second power is super speed. You can move so fast you're just a blur. The third level is being able to create fire and ice with your hands. The fourth level is being able to move objects with your mind. The fifth level is telepathy, being able to read and control people's minds. And the last level is invulnerability. Once you get that nothing can hurt you."

"You mean you can heal from wounds?" Britta said.

"It's more than that." Annie Five said. "At that level your skin is indestructible, being imperious to any weapons. If someone was able to get all six powers they would essentially be Superman and Jean Grey without any weakness. They would be unstoppable."

Abed Five gravely nodded his head. "So far Evil Abed and Evil Annie have killed four versions of themselves and have obtained the first four powers. Before he died Evil Troy was able to obtain three powers. And Evil Jeff-"

"There's a evil version of me?" Jeff said.

"Technically there was a evil version of all of us, but those four are the only ones we have to worry about. Evil Pierce died from a gunshot wound, Evil Shirley became an alcoholic and drank herself to death, and Evil Britta has disappeared without a trace. But Evil Jeff is out there and has obtained the first two powers so far. The biggest threats right now are Evil Abed and Evil Annie. They're just two murders away from becoming invincible."

"That's why Abed went into hiding, so he couldn't be killed by this evil version of himself." Shirley said.

Annie nodded her head determinedly. "So how do we stop them?"

"There was a notebook that was kept when the dice was being created. It was a journal of occult writings and research written by one of the creators of the dice, Nathanael Osbourne. It's believed that might have the key on how to stop them." Abed Five said.

Shirley drew in a sharp breath at hearing that name. "Osbourne. You're not talking about-"

"Yes, I was talking about Starburns. It seems his father was the one who kept the journal and created the dice. It seems that he's the only one who knows where this journal is."

Shirley drew in a breath in anger. "Why didn't you tell me this last night!"

"I figured it was something the whole group should know. Also I was concerned you'd do something rash. We need to find that book, and we need him to find it. I've already visited him in jail since I've arrived in this dimension, but he wouldn't say anything to me."

Shirley rose from her chair. "I think I should try and talk to him."

"Shirley, you don't have to do this." Britta said. "After what he did to you-"

"I know. I hate him and I hate what he did. But I might be able to convince him to tell us where this book is. I think I know how to get to him. Either way, there's too much at stake for me not to try."

**Yes, this chapter was very long and bursting with exposition. But it was necessary to explain exactly what is going on. **


	6. Chapter 5

Shirley waited impatiently in the prison visiting room, glancing around as she saw inmates taking to people. It appeared that Mondays were a busy day for prisoners to get visitors, she thought. She would have liked to have had less people around when doing this, but this was too important to wait to do.

She heard her phone ring and quickly answered it, hoping it would be Abed or Jeff. But it was only the manager from her bakery. "…Sebastian, I told you this morning I'm taking some personal time and I won't be in for the week…whatever problems come up I'm sure you can handle it…look, unless there's a real emergency, like the store burning down, please don't call me. Goodbye." She hung up, realizing how important this was if she was risking her business for a solid week.

She tensed up as she saw Starburns make his way over and sit down on the prisoner's side of the glass. He looked different from when she last saw him, the day he was convicted for quadruple murder. His head was shaved and while he still had sideburns they were no longer shaved into shapes.

She waited until he picked up his phone before picking up her own. "Hello Alex. It's been a while."

"I'm surprised to see you Shirley. If you're here for a sermon or something-."

"I'm here to get some information from you." She looked at him intently. "Nathanael Osbourne. Does that name mean anything to you?"

He shrugged noncommittally. "He was my father. He died before I was born."

"Do you know how he died?"

"I don't exactly know. He was involved with crime and he died when the police tried to apprehend him."

"It seems crime runs in your family then. His death wouldn't have anything to do with the occult, would it?" She knew she was getting to him when she saw him tense up. "In particular creating an object that would create multiple universes with multiple you's in it."

His eyes widened in shock. "How do you know this?"

"It's not important how I know, what matters is I do. I also know that if you kill yourself from another universe you obtain supernatural power. Isn't that right?"

He glanced around nervously before lowering his voice. "Look, I don't know how you know all of this, but forget it. The less you know the safer you are."

"I'm already too deeply involved. There are evil versions of people here who have already killed and obtained these powers. Two of them have already killed four people and are looking to become invincible. Your father left behind something that can stop them, and I think you know where it is."

"Oh, you think that, do you?" He glared at her in discontent. "Even if I did know anything, why should I tell you?"

"Maybe because you own me Starburns. You killed my boys and Andre."

Alex's face crumbled at the mention of his crime. "I never meant for them to get hurt."

"I know. That car bomb was meant for me, and they just happened to have gotten in that car instead when it went off. But the fact remains that because of you they're gone and I have to live with that pain for the rest of my life."

He glanced around, visibly nervous. "That book is the only thing keeping me alive. If I reveal where it's hidden I'm dead."

Shirley closed her eyes for a moment as she gathered her thoughts. "Alex, I don't know if you believe in God or not, but you're going to hell for what you've done. But I've come to believe that ultimately everything we do while we're alive counts towards us when we die. If you tell me where this book is and it helps to save lives, that's going to count towards you. May not be enough to get you into Heaven, but it'll grant you some leniency. May even be enough to get you into purgatory. You've already damned yourself in this life. But you can still save yourself in the next one."

She waited as Starburns looked at her, seeming to truly ponder what she was saying. Just as she was about to give up and leave he said. "There's only one book."

"What?"

"Before he died my father sent me a letter explaining all of this. That notebook had spells cast on it so that if multiple universes were created only one copy of it would exist, and it would transport to the universe that was most altered. I have a feeling that this is the universe it's in. You should also know that's there's much more in it then just about multiple universes. It's a record of all his life's work into the occult and dark aspects of the supernatural. The information in that book is priceless, and sought after by many."

"Where is it?"

He lowered his voice to almost a whisper. "It's in a box buried in Greendale forest, beside a tree that twists halfway so it seems like it's turned left at the waist. Go to the entrance lining the cemetery and walk a mile inward until you get to a visible clearing. Walk twenty yards to your left and it'll be there."

She sat there looking at him for a moment. "Thank you."

"There are two more things you need to know Shirley. Inside that book is a crystal that can extract powers from someone who's killed their other self. The catch is it can only be used one time. Once you use it the crystal crumbles and is gone, so think long and hard about who you will use it on. The second thing is there were two people who helped to create that dice. According to police reports it was my father and another man named Benedict Hopswagger. But Benedict was just an apprentice to my father. In reality there was someone else who was working with him and helped to create the dice."

"Who was it?"

"I don't know. My father's letter didn't say. All he wrote was that this man was extremely dangerous, and would stop at nothing to obtain the book. He might not be alive anymore, but you still should be careful."

Starburns raised an arm. "Guard! I'm done here." Shirley watched as he was handcuffed and led out of the room. She waited until she exited the prison and was in her car before calling Jeff.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Are you sure this is where he said it is?"

"For the eleventh time Jeff, yes."

It was late afternoon, with the sun already starting to set. Once she told Jeff where the book was he and Abed Five met up with her by the cemetery and they went to find the book. They had spent the last three hours searching but were so far unsuccessful.

"What else did he say?"

"I told you, he said walk a mile into the forest and we'd see a clearing. Then walk to the left until we saw a bent tree."

"Well we've found the clearing and walked to the left, but so far there's no tree. He was probably screwing with us!"

"Don't you dare yell at me Jeffrey!"

"You guys!" They ran over as Abed Five gestured towards a toppled over tree. "Look at this." They looked as Abed Five pointed to the tree. While the bottom half was straight the top part curved to the left. "I think this is it."

Jeff took his shovel and started digging around the upturned tree, with Shirley and Abed Five digging also. It wasn't long before Shirley hit something. She dropped to her knees and dug with her fingers until she uncovered and pulled out an old wooden case.

Jeff hit it with his shovel, breaking the lock. Shirley opened the box and pulled out a thick leather bound notebook. She flipped through the book and found that the last several pages had a hole cut into it. She showed them the hole, revealing a white diamond colored crystal inside of it. "This is it."


	7. Chapter 6

"This is one sick book. It says here you can take on the appearance of a animal if you gut it and wear its freshly torn skin." Troy said.

Everyone was at Annie and Jeff's apartment going over the book for clues. The only person who wasn't there was their world's Abed, who Shirley currently had on speaker phone.

"_Is there anything in there about secret societies? That can lead to clues on which exact branch of magic is being practiced. _"Abed said

"No sweetie. I'll tell you if we find anything."

"Look." Britta said. "This proves that not everything in this book is accurate. Take a look at this. **If someone is hurt and they take in a power their wounds will automatically heal**. That can't be true because we saw Evil Troy with a artificial voice box."

"I think that means wounds a person suffers from after the time lines have been created." Abed Five said. "If it happened before or while they were being formed the injuries are still permanent. From what I heard Evil Troy's larynx were damaged while the other dimensions were bring created. That's why it were still damaged and Evil Jeff's arm never grew back."

Jeff picked his head up from the book. "Wait, I lost an arm?"

"Not you specifically. But yes, Evil Jeff is missing an arm. And it didn't regrow after he took in two powers so it occurred before hand."

Annie skimmed a passage on the top of one of the pages. "Maybe instead of looking to use dark magic we should counteract it by-."

"Using white magic." Both Annie and Annie Five said at the same time. They looked at each other in annoyance.

"_I still think one of the Annies should be in hiding also. Either our Annie or Annie Five." _

"I can hear you Abed!" Annie yelled out.

"_I'm just saying, it would make it harder for the evil versions of us to find us."_

"Guys, look here." Jeff said as he turned to one of the last passages. "Take a look at this. '**After exhaustive research it must be concluded that those who create the dimensional conductor will be unaffected by it. Meaning its creators will only have one version of themselves and be unable to obtain the power through killing their other dimension versions. This means myself and my partner will have to find another way to get the sought power. I have figured out a way to extract the power from someone else, but it will only work if someone obtains all six powers within them. It will not work on someone who has less then every power level in them. It is my intention that when my unborn son is old enough he will obtain each power through killing his other versions and then I will be able to take his power for myself**.' So Starburns father wanted him to kill his other versions and then take the power from him. That's devious."

"But, he didn't do it right? I mean, he's in jail. If he had any of those powers he could have broken out." Annie said.

"Least he has some morals. As few as they are." Shirley bitterly said.

"_Guys, turn on the news. Now!" _Abed yelled over the phone.

They turned on the television, where a reporter stood outside a dance studio. :: As you can see the person inside has painted in huge letters the message "Bring Bright Eyes" outside of the building. Reports say that the person is an impossibly fast young woman dressed in black and that she has taken hostage several teenage dancers who were at rehearsal. Police are confident they have the situation under control, and after yesterday's debacle are urging costumed vigilantes to stay out of the way. Reporting live for Chanel six, I'm Maria Russo ::

They all looked at each other before Jeff slapped the table in anger. "Screw it, we're going. Ok, I think not everyone here should go though. Troy, how's your hand doing?"

"Not bad enough to stop me from going."

"I'm coming also." Abed Five said. He raised a hand when they started to protest. "I've encountered them before. And Evil Annie wouldn't hurt me. If I died Evil Abed wouldn't be able to get all of the powers."

Jeff turned to Annie. "Annie, you need to stay here with Annie Five."

"Jeff, I can fight and defend myself."

"Annie, she's after you. I know you can defend yourself. But if you're there it will make it harder. This way she can't kill you and become stronger."

She looked at Jeff with a extremely childlike pout before reluctantly nodding her head. Jeff sadly smiled as he turned to Britta. "Britta, can you please stay behind incase Evil Abed or some other evil person comes by."

"Sure Winger, I'll protect your girl." She widely grinned before it slowly left her face at the looks Jeff and Annie gave her. "I mean, I'll be here for both Annies."

"I'll stay here also." Shirley said.

Jeff walked into their bedroom and returned with a gun, which he handed to Shirley. "I know you used to be a good marksman. You think you still got it?"

Shirley took the gun and fired at the clock in the kitchen, hitting between both numbers at twelve. "I think I've still got it."

"Ok, let's do this."

"Jeff wait." Annie said. She ran over to Jeff and pulled him into an extremely passionate kiss. After several moments she pulled away from him. "Come back alive Jeff."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Son of a bitch." Lieutenant Kane yelled out as he saw Jeff, Troy and Abed Five approach the dance studio. "You've got a lot of nerve showing up here, after the shit you pulled. And who the hell are you?" He yelled at Abed Five.

"I'm new." He deadpanned. He was wearing a makeshift eye mask and a green hoodie.

"That's the worst vigilante costume I've ever seen. And there is no way I'm letting any of you in there."

"We're here to help!" Troy yelled.

"Really? Because you did such a good job the last time you helped."

"This time is different." Jeff said. "They wanted Bright Eyes and as you can see Bright Eyes isn't here. We're not negotiating in this situation. We just want to help stop them and save the hostages."

Lieutenant Kane looked at Jeff with true dislike. "You really want to help? Then we do this my way. I go in there, and you three follow me. And we take them in alive, by the book. Understand."

"Yes." Abed Five said.

"Ok then. Men!" Kane said to the other officers. "Listen up. First I'll be going in with the vigilantes. If we need backup I'll radio or yell out and you come in. Are we clear? Ok."

The four of them went into the dance studio, with Lieutenant Kane leading the way. He pulled his gun out and looked in the studio. They looked around as they walked deeper into the main dance room.

"I don't see any hostages." Troy said

"Maybe they're not in plain sight this time." Jeff said as he looked all around.

"Keep going, they must be in here somewhere." Kane said. "Maybe they're hidden in theAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWW!" He yelled out as he was lifted high into the air.

"So glad you came gentleman." They looked up as Evil Abed jumped into view. "Looks like my plan worked perfectly."

Lieutenant Kane fired at Evil Abed, who stopped the bullets in mid air just before they hit him. He waved his hand and they flew into Kane with the same force of being fired from a gun. He gasped as Evil Abed lowered his hand and sent him crashing to the ground.

Troy ran to Kane as Jeff pulled out his bo staff and charged at Evil Abed. Evil Abed turned and was gone in the blink of an eye. Before Jeff could move he felt himself being grabbed him from behind and thrown clear across the room. He crashed in the mirrors lining the wall and lay there dazed.

Troy pulled himself up from Kane's body and pulled out a set of knives. "Where's Evil Annie!"

Evil Abed looked at Troy and started laughing. "You fool. She was never here. It was all a set up to get one of the Abeds here. Which perfectly happened." He smiled evilly at Abed Five. "My only regret in killing you right here is that you won't have the pleasure of seeing Evil Annie kill your wife." He waved a hand and Troy's knifes flew out of his hand and into Evil Abed's outstretched hand. He threw a fireball at them, causing Troy to shield Abed Five as he pulled him to the ground. Evil Abed waved his hand and Troy was lifted high in the ground before he crashed to the ground, where he laid unconscious.

Just then Evil Abed screamed as Jeff stabbed him in the side. He mentally pushed Jeff back as he threw Troy's knifes at Abed Five, which sank directly into his chest. Holding his side he mentally pulled the knives out as he ran into an adjacent room in the studio.

"ABED!" Jeff yelled out. He ran to him and knelt next to him. The knives had stabbed him right in his heart, with blood pouring out of the wounds. "Hold on, I'm going…" His voice caught as he realized there wasn't anything he could do to save him.

"Kill…" Abed Five gasped as he coughed up blood. "Kill me…quickly…before…" His eyes rolled back in his head as he died. An instant later Jeff cried out in shock as Abed Five's body disappeared and turned into yellow light, which flew out of the room.

Evil Abed limbed into the office when he was hit with the light. He moaned in surprise as he felt a surge of power flow through him. A moment later it disappeared. He looked at his side and saw that his wound was healed. Suddenly he fell to the floor as multiple voices filled his head. He groaned as he worked to silence them. After a few moments the voices were silenced. But not before he had heard Jeff's thoughts, and came to discover some very good information.

He pulled out a cell phone and placed a call. "Evil Annie…I know where you can find your doubles. Listen carefully and do exactly what I tell you to do…"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Wait, you mean Annie Kim was a bridesmaid in your wedding?" Annie shrieked excitedly.

She sat on the couch in the living room with Annie Five. They had decided to try and talk and get over the awkwardness between them. As they traded stories from their lives they soon found themselves getting along very well.

"We actually became friends after Greendale. Once she grew up a little and stopped being so competitive she actually was a good person."

"That's so weird. Here she became a super villain. She was obsessed with me."

Britta looked over at the two Annies, feeling a little left out. "Do you know when Shirley will be back from dropping the notebook off with Abed?"

Annie stated shrugging when she froze. As she listened carefully she could hear the locks on the front door turn on their own accord. "Britta, get out your weapons."

Suddenly the door burst open and Evil Annie marched into the room, wearing her signature black dress. "Hello Ladies. I was going to just kick the door off its hinges. But I figured I'd be more subtle. "

Britta pulled her guns out and fired at Evil Annie. She dodged them in a black blur and waved her hand, causing them to fly out of Britta's hands and out the window. Annie ran forward and jumped up to kick her. Evil Annie grabbed her extended leg and threw her hard to the ground.

"Britta, get her out of her!" Annie yelled.

"No! I'm not going to leave_"

"GO!"

Reluctantly Britta grabbed a protesting Annie Five and threw them through the kitchen window. They fell through the air and landed in a garbage bag filled dumpster.

Evil Annie reached down and grabbed Annie by the throat, lifting her up until she was holding her a few inches above the ground. "I'm not that worried about the other Annie getting away. You were the one I was really after. Tell me what I need to know and I'll make it quick and painless. Where is the notebook?"

"It's not here. It was hidden somewhere else." Annie gasped.

Evil Annie waved her free hand and objects shot around the room. She kept waving her hand but the notebook didn't appear. "Well, it looks like you have a brief stay of execution. Let's go."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Jeff pulled Troy into an ally and glanced out into the street. Once Evil Abed had ran off the police charged in there. As soon as they saw Kane's body they tried to arrest the two of them. They were barely able to escape the building and had outrun the cops for ten blocks.

"I don't see them." Jeff said.

Troy leaned against the brick wall, fighting not to cry. "He killed him. He killed Abed."

Jeff held onto Troy's shoulders as he looked at him. "Troy, what happened is horrible. But Abed, OUR Abed, is alive and well. And I swear that I will fight to my last breath to make sure he's not taken from us.

Just then Jeff's phone went off. He pulled it out and answered it. "Hello."

"_Jeff." _

"Britta. What's wrong?"

"_Evil Annie showed up." _

Jeff gasped as he heard what she was saying. "What."

"_I managed to get out with Annie Five. But Annie…" _

Jeff almost broke his phone from gripping it so hard when a beep told him that someone else was calling. He switched over and heard Evil Abed's voice. _"Oh Jeff, you're really in a mess now. I have your wife with me. Say hi to your husband Annie." _

"_Jeff, don't come! That's what they want-." _Annie screamed before she was pulled away.

"_How sweet, she's so protective of everyone. Now, here is what's going to happen. You are going to come to the abandoned warehouse next to the bar you call El Street. You're going to bring the notebook, AND Annie Five, AND your world's Abed or else this Annie will die immediately and painfully. Remember, I can read minds now. I'll know if you forget anything or try some hero plan. If you don't bring everything I ask for she dies instantly. If you do, then you'll have a chance to save her, as slim as it is. You have one hour. Don't be late. " _


	8. Chapter 7

"You're not going!" Shirley yelled at Abed.

It was ½ an hour after Evil Abed had called Jeff with his demands and stipulations. Though he hated himself for it Jeff called Abed right after the phone call and told him everything that had happened. Though Abed knew what was at stake he had come out of hiding and met up with Jeff and Troy with the book.

The six of them (Jeff, Britta, Troy, Abed, Shirley, and Annie Five) were currently at Jeff's trying to figure out what to do. Though they knew how dangerous it was Abed had insisted that the only course they had was to meet Evil Abed's demands and all go to the warehouse.

"This is crazy. We're just supposed to give them everything they want?"

"Shirley." Jeff said. "I hate this. But he can read minds now. If we show up without exactly what he wants he'll immediately know."

"The ATL I know, the Jeff Winger I know, wouldn't just give in to someone else's demands!"

"It's Annie. If they-"

"YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE HERE WHO CAN LOSE A LOVED ONE!"

"Shirley!" Abed yelled. He pulled her to the side and started whispering to her. They all strained to listen but they couldn't hear either of them. After a few moments Shirley pushed Abed away. "I can't do this. I'm sorry everyone. But I'm not just going to stand by and watch my husband walk to his death. I won't do it again." Before they could stop her she stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door shut behind her.

They all looked at each other, Shirley's departure seeming to show how moronic this plan was. "Are we really doing this?" Britta said. "We're just handing them Abed and other Annie so they can slaughter them?"

"Look, we have to bring everything they asked for so they think we're cooperating. But we have one thing that can help us." Jeff opened the book and pulled out the crystal. "We can use this to take their powers. Without their powers they won't be a match for us."

"The book says we can only use it once on one person though." Troy said.

"Then we need to use it on Evil Abed. Right now he's the most powerful and the most dangerous." Jeff looked at them as they all nodded their heads in agreement. "Ok, if anyone has another idea on how to do this, please say something now?"

Britta reread the few scribbles put in the corner of the first page the hole had been cut into. "It says here direct contact must be made with the person it's intended to be used on."

"Fantastic." Jeff looked over at Annie Five, who hadn't said a word since they had all returned to the apartment. He went over to her and gently put his hands on her arms. As he looked into her tear soaked eyes he realized that they weren't the eyes that were familiar to him. While she was Annie and they essentially appeared the same her eyes had a different look to them, brought on by different life experiences then the Annie he knew and loved had lived. He had once heard that lovers can tell the difference between completely identical twins by looking into their eyes. That was essentially what was happening here.

"An…other Annie." He said. "I know what we're asking you to do will put you in danger. But I promise we will do everything in our power to protect you."

She looked at Jeff, giving him a look that was both so familiar and yet so foreign. "I've been on the run with Abed for months, fighting for my life while those two monsters hunted us. Four different versions of me have already died, two of them right in front of my eyes. And now because of them my husband is dead. I am NOT going to stand aside and have those monsters kill anyone else. I'm going with you, and I will do everything to make sure they are destroyed. And I promise, I'll make sure you are reunited with your Annie. "

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Jeff tried to control her nervousness as he stood outside the warehouse with Abed and Annie Five. The entire plan seemed at best moronic, and at worst suicidal. He would enter the front of the warehouse with Abed and Annie Five, while Troy and Britta slipped in through the side with the crystal, sneaking up on them before using the crystal on Evil Abed. Their only real hope was that he could distract the evil doppelgangers until they got to Evil Abed.

As Jeff looked at the door Abed approached him. "Come on Jeff. Let's do this." As they opened the door and walked through Jeff couldn't help feeling that familiar feeling that Abed knew more than he was letting on. If he indeed had a trick up his sleeve, Jeff hoped it was a good one.

They only walked a few feet in before they heard someone yell "Stop!" Evil Abed stepped out of the shadows, holding a bound Annie with him.

"Jeff!" She cried out. She struggled against him, but the arm holding her was stronger the steel.

"That's enough!" Evil Abed yelled. He looked at the three of them. "I wasn't sure you'd come. Especially with everything I asked. I guess love really is the greatest weakness. "

"Where's Evil Annie." Jeff said, trying to keep his voice steady.

"She's around. First things first. Give me the book."

"I didn't bring it. Let Annie go and I'll take you to where it is."

Evil Abed smiled at Jeff. "I know you have it on you. You're desperately trying to think about other hidden places, but you keep going back to it being in your pocket." He narrowed his eyes and the book flew out of Jeff's inside pocket and into Evil Abed's outstretched hand. "I always knew what people would do before. But now there's nothing I don't know about you."

"Lookie what I found!" Jeff looked over and his heart sank as Evil Annie came out from behind some machinery holding Troy and Britta. "It seems they were trying to sneak up on us."

"Clever Jeff. But nothing we can't handle."

Abed stepped forward and looked at Evil Abed. "Since you can read minds, what am I thinking now?"

Evil Abed smiled as he looked at Abed. But his smile disappeared as her brow frowned more deeply. Abed grinned at his goateed double. "You can't read your own mind, right? And since I'm you, you can't read my mind."

"You're not me. You're just a lesser version of me. I'm better then you in every way. You really think you can defeat me? The best version of yourself."

"If you really were the best, you would have figured this out." Abed jumped high in the air, waving his arms wildly. A moment later a sniper's shot was heard, hitting Evil Abed just above the belly button. He jerked out of the way as a second shot was heard, this time just grazing his neck. He let go of Annie as he grabbed his neck. She rolled over to a shocked Jeff, who quickly worked to untie her.

The door to the warehouse burst open and Shirley marched in, cold determination on her face as she shot at Evil Annie. Evil Annie let go of Troy and Britta as she jumped out of the way of the bullets.

Just as Jeff got Annie untied they dove out of the way as chunks of ceiling plaster rained down on them. Jeff, Annie, Abed and Annie Five ran for cover as Evil Abed shot fire at the ceiling and mentally pulled burning pieces of the ceiling down on top of them. He waved his hand and Shirley was lifted into the air. As Evil Abed turned her own gun on her Britta jumped forward and pressed the crystal into his chest. Evil Abed screamed as his body violently convulsed. The crystal glowed with a bright light before crumpling to dust.

As Evil Abed dropped to his knees Evil Annie sprang forward, pulling out a large hunting knife. Before they knew what she doing she shoved Britta out of the way and stabbed Evil Abed in the chest. She coldly looked at him as his eyes widened in horror. "Without your powers you're useless." She pulled the knife out and stabbed him again before throwing his body into Troy. She grabbed the book and ran at Jeff, Annie, Abed and Annie Five. She tossed the three of them aside with ease before stabbing Annie in the stomach, violently jerking the knife upward before stopping just below her heart.

"ANNIE!" Jeff screamed out. He ran forward but was sent flying several feet into the air by a kick from Evil Annie. Just then a piece of burning plaster fell from the ceiling and hit the book, setting it ablaze. Evil Annie screamed and smothered the flames on the book, dropping her knife before running out of the warehouse in the blink of an eye.

Jeff pulled himself up and ran over to Annie, kneeling beside her as she gasped for air. "I've got you sweetie, I've got you." He looked at her wound, but immediately knew it was too severe, that there was no way she's made in time for help to arrive. "HELP! SOMEONE DO SOMETHING!" He screamed as everyone looked on in shock. But no one knew of anything they could do to change this terrible outcome.

"I can't feel…I can't feel…" Annie gasped. Jeff held her as he sobbed, shaking as he realized his wife was about to leave him.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked to see Annie Five next to him. "Jeff, I can help her. Please step aside." As Jeff unsteadily stepped back Annie Five knelt down and smoothed Annie's hair. She picked up the knife and wrapped Annie's fingers around the handle before wrapping her own fingers over Annie's hand.

"God forgive me." Before they could grasp what she was doing she brought Annie's arm forward and stabbed herself through her chest, right through her heart. As Jeff and Britta leaped forward to stop her she pulled the knife out and stabbed herself through her throat. She cried a gurgled yell as she fell forward and died.

Her body instantly disappeared, leaving a bright yellow light behind. The light flowed into Annie, who yelled as her body shook and glowed. A moment later the glow left her body and she laid there, her injury completely healed.

Her eyes looked around at everyone as she breathed rapidly. She looked at the group, who were looking at her in shock. "What happened?"

Jeff knelt down and sat Annie up as he held her. "You're alive."

"I was stabbed and now…what happened?"

Jeff looked to the others for advice, but no one seemed able to offer an easier way at telling her what happened. He swallowed thickly before proceeding. "Annie Five. She saved you. She realized you would heal if you took in energy. So she…she made you…."

Her eyes teared up as she realized what Jeff was saying. "You mean I killed…" They spilled out of her eyes as Jeff's face confirmed the truth. She grabbed onto him tightly as she sobbed. A moment later she let go as Jeff cried out in pain.

"What, what happened?"

He rubbed his back as he looked at her. "You almost broke my back."

She pulled herself up and staggered away from everyone. "Get away from me!" As they came forward to try and comfort her she screamed loudly "GET AWAY FROM ME!" They all backed away, scared as they watched her rant and rave. Jeff went over to Annie and hugged her. She collapsed into him limp as a rag doll as she sobbed. For Annie Five, for herself, for everyone.


	9. Epilogue

As Evil Annie ran in the night she knew something was wrong. By now she should have absorbed the power from this dimension's Annie. But it hadn't flowed into her. The only way it could have been prevented was if Annie had lived, and her stab wound had been too severe for that. And yet, she hadn't gotten her power.

Evil Annie finally reached her destination, a large mansion at the edge of town. She ran to the doorway and pushed the intercom button. "It's me." A moment later she heard a buzz and the door opened. She went inside and marched throughout the manor until she got to the library.

The room was bathed in shadow, lit only by the fire in the corner. As she walked in a deep voice stopped her. "Have you got it?" The speaker stayed in the shadows, with only his outstretched arm visible.

She pulled out the book and had it float into the man's outstretched hand. As he leafed through it she loudly cleared her throat. "We have a problem. Evil Abed is dead. They drained him of his power."

The man turned to the pages with the hole cut in them before closing the book. "A regrettable but necessary outcome."

"Sir?"

"It was always my intention that the crystal be used on someone. Now that it is gone there is nothing that can stop me once I obtain the power. This book was always the real prize I was after."

"But sir, he only needed one more power to have them all. Now that he's gone it will take you much longer to obtain them."

Her heart sped up as he, a tall well dressed man with slicked back silver hair and a long pointy nose, stepped out of the shadows. "This book is much more valuable than Mr. Nadir was. There are others I can obtain the power from. But this book is one of a kind. Do I make myself clear Miss Edison?"

"Yes sir, Mr. Winger."


End file.
